Dry hopping with pellets

General Homebrew Discussion
1

I have never dry-hopped with pellets. Is there anything in particular that I should be aware of? How about keg-hopping?

2

The big thing I’ve found in the past when dry hopping with pellets is that I have to use some kind of filtering medium on my autosiphon when transferring out to keep all the small hop particles from coming along for the ride.

3

I’ve used knee-high stockings (preferably white) with great success. They will stretch as the pellets swell and still have a tight enough weave to contain the majority of the residue.

I have, for the most part, moved to whole hops for dry hopping, but pellets work just fine.

4

Hi Doug,

I just put the pellets in the fermenter and rack the beer onto them.  After a week or 2, they drop out, making it easy to bottle or keg the beer.

5

+1

Just be careful not to agitate them when racking into the bottling bucket.

6

Doug, I have just put them in the secondary just like Denny does. They will drop out and you will end up with a clear beer.

7

Yep.  Same here.

If some hops or even yeast is clinging to the side of the carboy I will give it a sharp quarter turn a couple days before bottling to knock everything off the sides.  This is especially helpful if using better bottles that have small ledges on their sides.

8

People say that the pellet hops will eventually drop out but I guess I’ve never had the patience to see just how long that might take to actually happen.  At least for me, even after two weeks, there were still some bits floating around.  I also have had issues with trying to filter at the siphon tip as the gunk can clog the filter material so it needs to be cleared and the siphon re-started.  All that said, what I have found to work for me, is those “paint strainer” bags you can get at home improvement joints like Lowes.  The size that fits a 5 gallon bucket comes two to a pack for just a couple of bucks.  I sanitize the bag and use it to line my bottling bucket.  Siphon like normal (and don’t worry about getting some bits) and once done, gently lift the bag out of the bucket, taking any pellet bits with you.  Bottle as normal.

9

I guess key word there is “gently”.  I would rather have a few hop pellet bits at the bottom of my keg/bottles than oxidizing my brew.

10

yes, definitely, gently does it

11

I’ve noticed that even a slight cold crash will help with the pellet debris drop out.
I’m gonna try the pantyhose method. That’s a tight weave on those.